Feedback on Scubaboard since new version came online

[DA Aquamaster]

I use a net book and a fairly fast air card and the site is slower - far slower than any other site I access. The saving grace is that it is slightly faster on an iPhone.

But to be honest the slow speed is probably going to show in fewer hits and that could impact the advertising revenue for SB.

 

[Mopar]

I still do not know what was wrong with the old version? Could someone please tell me?

 

[wilderydude83]

they've gone and reinvented the wheel.

 

[Jax]

I agree that adblockers work. Simply going to Firefox' "Tools | Options | Content | Load images automatically -- then the "Exceptions" button, and enter adserve.scubaboard.com, sped up the site significantly.

In IE, I just block the same "adserve.scubaboard.com". I still see it show it the status bar, as "waiting for adserve.scubaboard.com".

 

[Blue Sparkle]

I find that I am a bit less "invested" in SB than I was before the upgrade. The quirks just make it feel clunky enough that I'm less motivated to read and post - although I still do.

Another forum I frequent made a similar update and (before I left entirely) I noticed that (at least it seemed to me) usage was down.

I guess, to sum it up in a word, the forum just does not feel as "agile."

For me it's not super slow, but there are other things....

1) The whole of a subject line no longer shows in the index page. If I hover over the subject line I can see the beginning text of the post, but that does not always reveal the equivalent information to the rest of the subject line. Is this happening for everyone?

2) The "new posts" up in the top left is somewhat over-written by a "What's new" button. Still seems to work but?

3) I, too, liked having more ability to filter new posts.

4) This may be just me not having figured it out yet (in a Catch 22, the less-agile-seeming new forum format makes me less motivated to try to figure out if a new way is available), but I miss being able to find new posts in "my" threads (i.e. threads that I have posted in).

5) I couldn't figure out the mobile version at all, but since I've never used any mobile version before (just now have a smart phone), that may not be anything to do with the new forum format.

 

[Jax]

Hi, Sparkle!

FWIW, I have a shortcut in my favorites' bar for http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/subscription.php?do=viewsubscription&folderid=all.

That gives all the threads you've posted in. UserCP gives the short list.

 

[dmoore19]

I have found it to be a bit clunky too. However, I also realize that upgrades are necessary and don't always come without problems. Having been involved in a couple of upgrades for some software developed by the company I work for these problems are annoying but as time passes things got sorted out and fixed. About the time the bugs are worked out, there will be another upgrade and you get to start all over again.:depressed:

 

[HowardE]

Your feedback is noted...

However. There is no turning back. We are on this version of the software, and the only direction to go from here is forward.

While a few of the longer time members are somewhat disappointed by progress (at least in my mind its progress) There are some inherent drawbacks.

1) The software is like any software... never completed. vBulletin is still working on bugs and fixes and patches to the core software, and new releases are coming out all the time. Actually, tomorrow I will try to install a patch to correct over 50 bugs from this version. Some of them are small and not noticeable even.

2) With progress comes increased site traffic, which means increased server loads. Currently our site traffic is up more than 15% since the software update, and this increase has impacted our overall performance. We are currently looking at adding another server to the mix to improve performance. (At the same time... I am now in a 3rd world country {ranked 155th in internet connection speed} using a cell phone for connection to the internet, and my page load time is pretty quick)

Yes, the site is different, but at the same time, we now have a fully featured article section, and user blog area. While these areas have not been fully developed yet, they are growing, and article submissions from professional authors are coming our way. This improvement makes ScubaBoard a more diverse site, and makes us "not just a forum."

There will always be opposition to change, and the few complaints about it don't mirror the increased traffic, and improved statistical rankings of ScubaBoard on the web as a whole. As far as all of the complaints about the software go, don't think that they go ignored... I correspond with the developers of this software, and read other people's complaints and bug reports. Ironically, many of the "clunky" features that people complain about are on their list of things to fix with subsequent updates.

Thanks for your patience and continued use through this period of change on the site...

 

[Quero]

It took me a while to get a good "workflow" going for SB, too. For the forums I like to visit, I just bookmarked them and I go straight to them to read and post. I have always used the "go to last unread post" button in the field with the name of the last poster, and I like the new button (at least it's new to me) at the front of the actual thread title. Using those speeds up my browsing.

For a while I had the kinds of frustrating problems that Devon Diver describes, but they are now resolved or they resolved themselves, and the only thing that bugs me is browser-specific rather than VB-generated. I don't get any of the jumping around that Bob describes, and I don't have any overlapping text that I have noticed such as BSparkle gets.

As for speed, well, I live in a place where it's not very speedy anyway, so I haven't noticed any lag. But I do have the adblockers in place so that the page loading icon doesn't just keep spinning forever. Fairly often I get a complete page load failure, so I just load it again.

All in all, I'm just about as comfortable now with the new VB as I had become with the old one.

 

[dmoore19]

Your feedback is noted...

However. There is no turning back. We are on this version of the software, and the only direction to go from here is forward.

While a few of the longer time members are somewhat disappointed by progress (at least in my mind its progress) There are some inherent drawbacks.

1) The software is like any software... never completed. vBulletin is still working on bugs and fixes and patches to the core software, and new releases are coming out all the time. Actually, tomorrow I will try to install a patch to correct over 50 bugs from this version. Some of them are small and not noticeable even.

2) With progress comes increased site traffic, which means increased server loads. Currently our site traffic is up more than 15% since the software update, and this increase has impacted our overall performance. We are currently looking at adding another server to the mix to improve performance. (At the same time... I am now in a 3rd world country {ranked 155th in internet connection speed} using a cell phone for connection to the internet, and my page load time is pretty quick)

Yes, the site is different, but at the same time, we now have a fully featured article section, and user blog area. While these areas have not been fully developed yet, they are growing, and article submissions from professional authors are coming our way. This improvement makes ScubaBoard a more diverse site, and makes us "not just a forum."

There will always be opposition to change, and the few complaints about it don't mirror the increased traffic, and improved statistical rankings of ScubaBoard on the web as a whole. As far as all of the complaints about the software go, don't think that they go ignored... I correspond with the developers of this software, and read other people's complaints and bug reports. Ironically, many of the "clunky" features that people complain about are on their list of things to fix with subsequent updates.

Thanks for your patience and continued use through this period of change on the site...

I had to like your post because I couldn't find the Thanks button.

Thanks Howard for what you have done.